The Experts
| runtime = 94 minutes | country = United States | language = | budget = $3 million | gross = $169,203 }} The Experts is a 1989 American comedy film starring John Travolta, Arye Gross and Kelly Preston. It was written by Steven Greene, Eric Alter, and Nick Thiel and directed by Dave Thomas. During production there were several uncredited rewrites of the script performed by Thomas at the request of Paramount chief Ned Tannen. Plot In the Soviet Union, groups of potential Soviet spies are trained in a town made up to pass for "Indian Springs", Nebraska. The denizens of the town speak perfect English and go about their days as Americans to train the cadets to fit into American society. One of the trainers in this town, KGB agent Cameron Smith (Charles Martin Smith), feels that the training is substandard as the town has failed to develop culturally since its inception and is stuck in the 1950s. In order to rectify the situation, Smith hires New York City club-goers (and aspiring club-owners) Travis (John Travolta) and Wendell (Arye Gross) to teach modern ways to the outdated town under the auspices of opening a nightclub. The two are drugged en route and wake up in Russia unaware they have left the United States. Travis and Wendell are bemused by the quaint ways of the town and dismayed when they see the location Smith has procured for them (a 50s-style tiki lounge), but they set to work remodeling the club, begin to make friends around the town and even start to date a couple of the trainees, Bonnie (Kelly Preston) and Jill (Deborah Foreman). At the urging of Travis and Wendell, Smith brings in a shipment of top-of-the-line accouterments and entertainment to modernize the town. This doesn't sit well with town leaders Jones (Brian Doyle-Murray) and the town's minister Sparks (Rick Ducommun). After a Fourth of July party in which the young people of the town (trainees and residents alike) trespass at a local lake to have a party at Travis and Wendell's urging, the two get lost and stumble upon a military base where everyone is speaking Russian and realize they are actually in the Soviet Union. The two decide to go to Bonnie and Jill for help despite knowing that they are spies, each one asserting that their feelings are real. While Bonnie reveals she has fallen in love with Travis and agrees to help him, Jill promptly turns them in. While in prison the pair meet Yuri (James Keach), the pilot who flew the cargo plane that delivered the modern conveniences, and who was promptly imprisoned for it. Travis and Wendell are brought before the town and under pain of death are made to renounce their country and democracy. When the two cannot bring themselves to do it and instead extol American life, they inspire the town residents including Smith and Bonnie to revolt and overthrow their leaders. After a shootout and subsequent chase (wherein Yuri has to go out on the wing as the plane taxis down the runway), the expatriates escape and make national headlines when they land in America and defect. Some time later the town's residents are living it up in New York City but Travis is uneasy, thinking that they may be missing their old lifestyle. Realizing that there probably is a town in America just like the one in Russia, the whole group relocates to the actual Nebraska, and resume their lives as Americans, this time for real. Cast *John Travolta as Travis *Arye Gross as Wendell *Kelly Preston as Bonnie *Deborah Foreman as Jill *James Keach as Yuri *Jan Rubeš as Illyich *Brian Doyle-Murray as Mr. Jones *Charles Martin Smith as Mr. Smith *Mimi Maynard as Betty Smith *Eve Brent as Aunt Thelma *Rick Ducommun as Sparks *Steve Levitt as Gil *Tony Edwards as Nathan *David Mcalpine as Farmboy Reception The Experts was a massive box office bomb; its budget was estimated at $3 million and domestic box office was only $169,203. The film was also panned by the critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently holds only 26% of audience aprovation. Jack Sommersby from "eFilm Critic" wrote: "No, The Experts isn't likely to inspire world peace or serve as a building block for the cure for diabetes, but it goes down well enough and never makes the mistake of having Travis or Wendell "mature" for the sole sake of doing so, and that's what makes them such a consistently-winning pair of heroes you can happily get behind." References External links * * * Category:1989 films Category:English-language films Category:American comedy films Category:American films Category:1980s comedy films Category:Cold War films Category:Films scored by Marvin Hamlisch Category:Films set in the Soviet Union Category:Films set in Russia Category:Films shot in Vancouver Category:Paramount Pictures films